Guide To Massachusetts Turkey Farms

BOSTON (CBS) – Roasted or deep fried? Cornbread stuffing or grandma’s recipe? Frozen or fresh from the farm? If the answers to all of these Thanksgiving questions are predictable in your family, how about changing it up this year?

Here’s a turkey fact that might influence your decision: a twenty-pound frozen bird takes up to five days to defrost! One day for every four pounds, according to the folks at the Butterball Talk-Line.

Instead of buying a frozen turkey from your neighborhood grocery store, a short drive out to a local turkey farm will get you a fresh, locally-grown, free-range turkey for your dinner.

Most turkey farms in Massachusetts family-owned; they raise their turkeys without any preservatives or other chemicals. And according to the Mass. Department of Agricultural Resources, there’s no need to baste fresh farm-raised turkeys; they have a natural layer of fat under the skin.

In Massachusetts, there are turkey farms near every major city, and it is NOT too late to order one for your Thanksgiving feast. Most of these places will allow you to place an order until Monday, and you can even ask them to roast it for you.